make a hit


Also, be a hit. Achieve (or be) a success, especially a popular one, as in She made a big hit in this performance, or In out-of-town tryouts the play was already a hit. This seemingly modern term, which transfers the literal meaning of hit as “a stroke or blow,” has been around since the early 1800s. It was used then, as now, for theatrical performances, books, songs, and the like

Words Nearby make a hit

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.